BALTIMORE (AP) — Two of Baltimore’s most recognizable monuments are being illuminated with blue lights in honor of World Diabetes Day.

The Washington Monument in Mount Vernon and the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower will go blue — the color recognized as a symbol for diabetes — on Monday evening.

The Baltimore Sun reports that the move comes after Amanda Witherspoon, a Garrison Forest School sophomore who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes six years ago, asked city officials to illuminate at least one downtown building to observe the day.

The American Diabetes Association says the disease affects 25.8 million people in the United States, or about 8.3 percent of the population.
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